Pearce foes form campaign committee to oppose ex-senator

The group that helped drive Russell Pearce out of the state Capitol last year has created a campaign committee to help block his comeback to the Senate this year.

Moving Mesa Forward filed its paperwork with the Secretary of State Wednesday, signaling its intention to spend money against Pearce, who is pitted against businessman Bob Worsley in the Republican primary.

The campaign committee is chaired by Chad Snow, who is also chairman of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the organization that spearheaded the successful recall against Pearce.

Randy Parraz, co-founder of Citizens for a Better Arizona, said the campaign committee will reach out to independents in Legislative District 25 and urge them to support Worsley.

Parraz said many independents don’t know they can vote in the Republican primary. Additionally, he said he believes some also don’t know that Pearce was recalled and was then defeated in the November special recall election.

“So we’re going to do some education (and) we’re going to do some voter persuasion,” Parraz said.

A Pearce campaign consultant hinted that the money from a “Democrat” group might be a negative for Worsley.

“You should call Worsley and ask him what his thoughts are,” said Constantin Querard. “He’s the Republican that is getting Democrat support in a Republican primary.”

He added his group will stress that the new district is heavily Republican, which means voters will make their choice for senator essentially during the primary election.

A Democrat, Greg Gadek of Mesa, is running in the general election against the winner of the Republican contest between Pearce and Worsley.

“Too many people invested too much in the recall to just walk away,” Parraz said.

Parraz’s group proved to be big spenders.

Citizens for a Better Arizona spent $141,000 to recall Pearce last year.